Welcome to The California Post’s weekly Dodgers recap, where baseball writers Dylan Hernández and Jack Harris review the week that was, hand out very official awards and take stock of the state of the season.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Should there be concern about the Dodgers’ bullpen?
It is way too early to panic about the Dodgers’ bullpen.
But this past week, there were a couple uncomfortable moments of deja vu.
Tanner Scott was charged with two losing decisions after getting taken deep twice in close games. The rest of the unit has cooled off since its club-record 38-inning scoreless streak, too, posting a 5.66 ERA and 1.40 WHIP this past week.
Ebbs and flows are to be expected from the relief corps, of course. And even Scott, whose stumbles this week felt eerily similar to his season-long struggles last year, has continued to show marked improvement from 2025 overall.
Still, with Edwin Díaz out, young arms like Will Klein and Kyle Hurt being thrust into bigger roles, and injured veterans including Evan Phillips and Brock Stewart still working back from injuries, the bullpen remains somewhat of a question mark — and, perhaps, an area the Dodgers will look to upgrade at the trade deadline.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Alex Freeland (6-for-13, 1 home run, 4 RBIs this week; .250 average, .694 OPS on season)
We’ve covered Ohtani plenty lately, so let’s focus on someone else for this week’s honor.
After making the team on Opening Day, struggling out of the gate, getting demoted to Triple-A, then coming back up last week, Freeland has finally found something of a rhythm, recording two multi-hit, multi-RBI games in recent days.
Last Sunday against the Phillies, Freeland was 2-for-3 with an RBI double and home run. On Wednesday in Arizona, he went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs, a walk and a stolen base.
Suddenly, Freeland’s overall numbers this season don’t look too bad. He is just a shade below league average in OPS+. He has graded out very well defensively, with a plus-five mark in defensive runs saved and a plus-three in outs above average. And he received high praise from Roberts on Thursday.
“He’s done a really good job,” Roberts said. “I think that this second turn here this year, he’s given himself some grace to not put too much pressure on himself. The walks, the two-out hits, are showing signs of growth. And that’s one of the things where you’re hoping to get young guys some runway so they can feel moments like that.”
PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Jonathan Hernández (4 innings, 1 run, 4 strikeouts this week; 1.13 ERA, 1 hit, 8 strikeouts this season)
When Hernández showed up with the Dodgers last month, he was an unknown face with almost no expectations — signed by the team to simply eat some innings in the bullpen amid a wave of injuries.
However, the six-year MLB veteran has started to look like much more than that recently, having struck out eight batters while allowing just one hit (a solo home run) over eight innings thus far with the team.
“It’s one of those stories, you don’t know what you have until it’s gone,” Roberts said of Hernández, who had not pitched in the majors since 2024 when he opted out of a minor-league deal with the Phillies and signed with the Dodgers last month. “It’s been a while since he’s been in the big leagues, and he cherishes every outing, every pitch. And the guy has got some big-time stuff. So pleasant surprise, and I’m happy we have him.”
Indeed, Hernández’s stuff has leapt off the page, with a 97 mph fastball, 28.6% strikeout rate and 61% ground-ball rate.
The Dodgers have had success with seemingly anonymous pitching additions before, from Jake McGee to Yency Almonte to Brent Honeywell Jr. and, of course, Klein last year.
Now, they are hoping Hernández might be next. So far, his results are outpacing expectations.
“We’ve had them every year, guys that aren’t household names until they are,” Roberts said. “So you never know how things are gonna play out. But as far as what he’s done so far, it’s real stuff.”
PROSPECT OF THE WEEK
Zach Root (7 scoreless innings, 9 strikeouts this week; 8 starts, 1.50 ERA, 38 strikeouts, 24 innings this year in High-A)
The Dodgers don’t get to pick high in the draft very often. But even so, they have a way of finding talent.
This year, Root is quickly becoming the latest example.
After being taken 40th overall out of the University of Arkansas last summer, he has burst onto the scene with High-A Great Lakes so far.
Root had his best start of this season this past week, matching his season high in strikeouts while going a minor-league-career-long seven scoreless innings. The left-hander gave up only one hit in that performance and has allowed four hits in his last 20 ⅓ innings.
The 22-year-old is still a ways from the majors. But his 14.3 mark in strikeouts-per-nine-innings is raising hopes about his future potential.
FUTURE DODGER OF THE WEEK
(Where we identify a potential Dodgers’ future acquisition — sometimes far-fetched, sometimes not)
Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers, pitcher (ETA: 2031)
The Brewers were by no means looking to punt on this season, and their current place in the standings shows that. They lead the NL Central.
But that didn’t stop them from trading their ace before the start of the season. Because the Brewers didn’t want to risk losing two-time All-Star Freddy Peralta in free agency for only a compensatory draft pick, they sent him to the Mets in exchange for a couple of prospects.
Short of an unlikely scenario in which baseball implements a hard salary cap, what’s to prevent this scenario from unfolding again in the future? Misiorowski won’t be a free agent until after the 2031 season, but not much figures to change for the Brewers between now and then. The guess here is that he will be made available before his walk year just as Peralta was.